Solar Impulse plane sets new distance record on Dallas flight

The Solar Impulse aircraft has set a new distance record for solar-powered flight on the second leg of its trans-American journey on Wednesday evening.

The aircraft landed in Dallas, Texas, after an 18-hour flight from Phoenix, Arizona, a journey of 1,541km (958mi).

In the coming weeks, it will also stop over in St Louis, Missouri, and Washington DC before heading to New York in early July.

The “Across America” bid is billed as the first cross-continental, solar-powered flight.

It is the last showpiece with the prototype aircraft before the Solar Impulse co-founders and pilots, Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg, attempt a trans-oceanic flight and an eventual around-the-world flight in 2015.